Staying away from temptation
A lot of people I know are in over their head with various types of debt. Some have student loans, car payments, mortgages, and various other obligations that chip away at their monthly paychecks. The worst of these though is credit card debt. Getting yourself into credit card debt problems is just stupid. Most of the time the people I know don’t really even remember what all they spent the money on – it’s just a bunch of random knick-knacks and junk that they didn’t need in the first place. I would prefer to avoid temptation altogether, but the system seems rigged against doing this – if you don’t get a credit card you can’t build credit, and if you don’t have credit you can’t get a loan for a house later. Instead, what I do is keep my one credit card in a drawer at home. I use it only for planned purchases (it has cash back, so I save around 1%-5% by using it). This way I am not at all tempted to use it for little unnecessary items that tempt all of us, like a candy bar at the checkout counter or a shirt that looks cool. By avoiding temptation, I keep myself from getting in over my head.
